Stay with me
by Muzzbuzz
Summary: Set after the third impact, will anything be different between the two pilots Shinji X Asuka
1. A New Beginning

Again...another redo is being done on this story, im trying to share the love a bit here, even though noone is giving any comments...but oh well...

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and affiliations belong to Hideaki Anno, no copyright infringement is intended by this fan fiction.

Stay with me

Asuka slowly opened her tired eyes, quickly closing them as the sun bit at the corners of her mind, ugh her eyes were not ready for the light yet.

It had been days since she had slept well, and it was starting to take its toll on her body, and more so on her well being and mood, It had been three months since the third impact, yet the memories were still as fresh as though they were several hours ago, although even Asuka had to admit she was more scared of what had happened several hours ago…

Asuka had been sick for the past week with a very high fever and couldn't breathe properly, it had obviously been bad, as it kept the great Asuka out of action, which was a feat of nature in itself, and because for some weird reason had been sharing an apartment with Shinji, it meant she had him constantly worrying about her and all in all getting stressed over anything.

Asuka slowly got up from the bed and staggered to her feet, swaying as she did, throwing out her hand to grab a hold of the near by desk to stop her from falling back over again, before gingerly starting to make around the apartment a bit, hugging the wall for support as she went.

After a bit Asuka had finally properly opened her eyes and her mind was starting to gradually work, and she thaught it was about mid afternoon from where the sun was, however...although it was rare, she could be wrong, but with another glance at the dying sun, she decided she was pretty close to the mark.

She looked around at the apartment again, giving a slight smirk as it showed it was obvious Shinji lived here, it was meticulously cleaned, it smelt like home cooking all the time, and the place had a warm, comfortable sense to it, almost like a big hug.....

'Hang on a second, did I just think this place was warm and comfortable...and like...a hug because of Shinji...' Asuka wondered, she blushed with the thought of this, but she carried on staggering around the apartment, it wasn't all that big, but it suited her and Shinji nicely, there was a kitchen, a bathroom and two bedrooms, Asuka was quite glad that hers had a lock, it gave her a sense of security in her life, and after the third impact she had sorely needed it.

After the Third Impact, and after Shinji attempting to choke Asuka, they had amazingly moved in together into the apartment, which for the first few days of course provoked rumours, and remarks from the remaining two "stooges", yet to make matters worse, even Hikari seemed to think there was something between Asuka and Shinji, which just earned a derisive laugh for Hikari, and perfect hand prints on Touji's and Kensuke's cheeks from where Asuka had cleared up the rumours in a swift and efficient manner or so she had first thought…

Little did Asuka know that all this had served to do was provoke further whispers behind her back, and the rumour mill was again spitting out sordid tales of how Shinji was being held captive by Asuka as a slave, and some others which only served to cause Asuka to turn redder than her hair.

Asuka continued to stagger around the apartment untill she got to the balcony where she decided she would sit and watch the sun go down while she waited for Shinji to get home from shopping, but just as she opened the door, she suddenly was hit by a wave of nausea and dizzyness and promptly she fell to the floor, narrowly missing the glass table which would have spelt disaster.

"Asuka im home" Shinji called out, knowing that if he didn't there was a chance that Asuka might think he was a burgler or something...and he didn't need to be kicked ... there...again for a LONG while...but that was pushed to the side of his mind when he didn't recieve an answer but instead felt a blow of cold air as he opened the door.

'Oh Asuka must have left the door to the balcony open again....ill quickly close it then go check on her' he thaught before quickly going to the kitchen and setting down the shopping bags before turning to shut the balcony door....what he saw however made him turn a pale shade of white...

Asuka was laying spreadeagle on the cold floor of the balcony breathing shallowly and looking a sickly white in colour, and before Shinji could think about what he was doing he was quickly at the side of Asuka gently picking her up with a strength he didn't know he had and swiftly carrying her to her room before putting her in bed and making sure to tuck her in and cover her.

Shinji stood there for a few minutes watching the colour return to her face slowly as she warmed up all the while thinking how beautiful she was, and how he would give anything for her to feel the same way about him as he did about her.

He loved her fiery spirit, the fact she was an individual and that nothing would ever stand in her way, but most of all he loved the fact that even if she constantly made snippy comments or smirked at him, she was the one constant in his life throughout the whole ordeal that was EVA and the Impact.

Asuka had been like family to him, motivating him to keep going when he would have so easily given up, and the cute smiles he sometimes saw....made everything worthwhile, but just seeing her in bed, and looking so frail and helpless, he just...felt guilty for seeing her like this, yet at the same time, felt...pride at seeing her for everything that she was, not just her tough projected self, but Shinji knew it would be a while before things were back to normal.

Sorry for cutting it short, but its midnight, i have written close to 5k words in about 2hours, which after writing nothing seems to be quite a lot... 0_o

Fear not, if someone likes this story and actually reviews it ill keep going, but for tonight....no more...sorry :(


	2. The change : A hug

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and affiliations belong to Hideaki Anno, no copyright infringement is intended by this fan fiction

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and affiliations belong to Hideaki Anno, no copyright infringement is intended by this fan fiction.

Stay with me pt 2

Asuka noticed herself thinking about Shinji a lot in the past week, he had been much more mellow after she had last abused him, it had been late at night, and Shinji had gone into Asuka's room to make sure she was ok, he had looked noticeably worried, and the strain was etched into his expression, yet when he put the back of his hand on Asuka's forehead, she couldn't take his pity, she had to prove she was strong to everyone, so she slapped his hand away and went to stand up, but due to her fever she was quite un-balanced and started swaying before falling towards her dresser.

She instantly realised that this was going to hurt, and she closed her eyes for the pain, but it never came…all she felt was something warm holding her by the waist, she was quite in disbelief until she figured it was Shinji's arm, and before she could compromise her renowned will of steel, she had screamed "BAKA HENTAI!!" and started to elbow him in the chest, promptly making him let her go, and with this she crawled back into her bed, happy she had proved she wasn't weak.

However Asuka couldn't stop but feel guilty over what she had done, she knew she had over-reacted, but how would she be able to live it down if anyone ever heard her thank Shinji, it was more likely Misato would stop drinking beer and become a good role model.

Just then she heard the lock click to symbolise Shinji was home, and before she could be caught by Shinji she snuck back to her room and got into her bed.

Shinji had had a hard day at school, he had had to take an exam to try and get into Physics, yet despite all his hard work and determination he had a bad feeling he had failed quite badly, his mind wasn't fully focused on Physics, it was actually focused on …Asuka?

The entire day Shinji had been worried about whether Asuka had been alright, he had even considered leaving during lunch to come back and check on her, but in the end he knew it would only cause more problems than there already was between them, and he couldn't bear having more reasons for Asuka to hate him, he felt downhearted after trying so hard to prove he could do something but he seemed to keep failing.

He thought he had failed his Physics, he knew he had failed his P.E class, and now he was failing to connect with someone he used to work and live with, and this distance was really getting to him, he had already had to see the counsellor about all of the problems NERV had given him, and now he had another problem in his head to float around and confuse him more.

He was about to go check on Asuka, and was about to knock at her door when suddenly it opened, and a very ragged Asuka stumbled out, right into Shinji's arms, promptly causing him to turn a bright red, as well as turn his head away and flinch, waiting for the impact.

Asuka had decided she should go out and see what Shinji was doing, so she climbed back out of bed and walked over to the door, but as she was still quite tired and still a bit under the weather, she didn't remember the ledge, or notice that Shinji was standing right on the other side, just about to knock at her door, but Asuka managed to take a step forward, trip of the ledge and fall straight into Shinji's arms.

She had been ready to yell at him again and call him a pervert, but when she saw his face before he flinched away, she had a feeling that Shinji had beaten himself up more lately than she ever had, and something deep within the girl willed her to embrace the boy standing before her, obviously awaiting some ungodly wrath he had provoked.

"Uh.. Thanks for that Shinji.." Asuka finally said, before giving Shinji a small hug and staggering off to the bathroom to go wash her face.


	3. Realization: An apology

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and affiliations belong to Hideaki Anno; no copyright infringement is intended by this fan fiction.

Stay with me pt 3

Shinji just stood there, dumbstruck at Asuka's reaction, 'She just…thanked me…' He then got a cynical look on his face as he expected Asuka to burst from the bathroom laughing at him, before hitting him again, but all he could hear was the sound of running water.

Several minutes later, Asuka was finally satisfied with her look, given the fact she still looked a bit worn out, and her hair was quite dull, but that could just be being sick for so long she reasoned.

Asuka turned off the water, and dried off her face with the towel beside the sink, before opening the door and staggering out into the hallway to see Shinji still standing in the hall with a small blush and an idiotic look on his face, obviously deep in thought.

She started to feel a bit warmer inside seeing Shinji didn't have a nosebleed or anything else to suggest perverted motives to him being outside her door, and gave a small smile before staggering over to Shinji; although this time she was slightly more graceful.

"So Baka-kun, what are you cooking me for dinner…" she said with an attempt at a cheerful laugh, which due to her being so worn out sounded like a sigh, before she tried to punch his shoulder playfully, but she lost her balance and fell forward again, into Shinji's arms, who barely managed to keep his own balance with the sudden increase in weight.

Asuka went a deep scarlet colour, both from the anger at still losing her balance, and also at Shinji always being there to help her, it wasn't that she hated him, so much as she hated having his constant pity, yet when she started to stand up, his face was more of shock and embarrassment than of pity.

Shinji didn't know what to think or do, twice in the past 20 minutes, a certain redheaded German girl had simply fallen into his arms, and even though it was all on accident, he was starting to wonder if there were hidden forces at work, but before he had time to think about it, his tongue got the better of him, and he said what he thought momentarily after was the stupidest possible thing to say, "Thankyou for before…"

Little did Shinji know this comment would change more than just the colour of his and Asuka's faces, but also his future, or what was left of it once Asuka was done with him...

Shinji's last comment had been the final straw on Asuka's already tested patience, and the poor girl finally snapped out of embarrassment, and when Asuka snapped, Shinji knew the meaning of the word pain

The next morning Shinji finally awoke, he had been out cold the entire night after he finalized the annoyance of the great Asuka. All he could remember was saying was thankyou, then he felt a pain in his head and he blacked out from the beating his poor brain got, he didn't know what had gone wrong, one minute Asuka didn't seem to mind being near him, the next he was in the path of her wrath, and all for saying thankyou, 'I thought I wasn't meant to say sorry, so why is thankyou so bad' he wondered, his poor swollen brain thudding against his skull.

Although before the battered and bruised young man could fully contemplate this, his door opened, and a very worn out and flustered Asuka came in, obviously in torment over something, although Shinji was busy trying to think out a plan of escape.

"Shinji, I came to…apologize for what I did last night…" Asuka whispered out quietly, still feeling the pain in her chest after she realised what she did to Shinji the night before, she actually felt guilty for hitting him this time, usually she enjoyed hitting the poor raven haired boy, but something seemed to have changed, she hung her head in shame thinking about how she had hit Shinji so many times for her own selfish reasons, and of all the times he just stood there taking her blows, he had always been there for her, yet she had never really thought he was, she was to busy being such a jerk to the boy, and she felt somehow she should try to apologize sometime, and currently the present seemed like a good time.

Asuka however with her head lowered in self shame didn't notice the effect her words had on Shinji, and furthermore didn't see the happy smile on his face as he stepped forward and embraced her in a friendly warm hug, which shocked both Shinji and Asuka.

Asuka's arm twitched and Shinji knew that he would be feeling this time for a while, yet he was still screaming mentally 'I mustn't run away… I mustn't run away…' however Asuka surprised them both even further by embracing Shinji back, for so long she had felt that she was all alone, and that no one had noticed or cared for her, and now the boy that she had thought as being a coward for so long had come out of his shell and was trying to be her friend, she realized the boy in her arms embracing her was different from all the other boys who followed her around, this one really did care for her, even enough to put his own safety at risk for her, as an Eva pilot or as a boy.

Asuka just hugged the boy tighter and quietly whispered "Thank-you for always being there…"

Until lunch, the rest of the day was reasonably un-eventful, except Shinji noticed Asuka was more withdrawn and preoccupied at school than usual, the reason wasn't known to him, yet he just chalked it up to pre- 3RD impact, Shinji had seem some bad things, but he knew Asuka had felt worse, after seeing EVA-03 and Asuka's mutterings for the few weeks after they came back from the LCL sea, it was obvious something wasn't right with the poor German girl.

Finally the lunch bell rang and Shinji went up to his usual lunch time eating place, he figured Asuka just needed some time to herself, but after he sat down he noticed Asuka coming up the steps looking quite tired and like she had had a rough night, but he decided he wouldn't say anything to the girl, he knew if anything needed to be said it would…


	4. Boy with a backbone?

Stay with me Part 4

Asuka slowly staggered up the flight of steps to the roof, she had had a terrible night yet not because of her nightmares, which was always the angel prying her deepest darkest and most private thoughts, and shattering her inner sanctum and resolve as if they weren't even there, removing the "Almighty Asuka the Great" and leaving the scared young girl Asuka, feeling frightened and all alone, screaming for het long lost mama, and hearing no reply, and this torment kept happening every time she tried to close her eyes and sleep.

Yet as she slowly climbed the last steps to the roof she began to think about what she had been thinking about last night, which was about the raven haired boy whom she had once despised, yet now she was having difficulty not thinking about him, about how he had always stood there and taken her beatings, and never even so much as raised an arm to defend himself, how he had stood up for her when the boys at the school started getting a bit too excited, and how he had taken a massive beating without so much as one complaint, even though she had brushed it away as nothing before, Asuka was starting to realize how much this boy had done for her, how much he had given up and sacrificed to keep her safe and happy, and how much pain he had willingly received to keep her out of harms way, and the thought of how badly she had treated him for it made her cringe, the fact that this boy was under attack from his father and the angels at "Work" most of the jealous boys at school and him and Misato at home allowed Asuka a brief insight into why the boy hid within a shell, and it scared her.

And with this final thought in mind Asuka slowly walked over to Shinji, and sat down beside him feeling that at the time they could both do with each other's company, and even though Asuka wasn't going to be admitting it any time soon, she had found over the last couple of days she enjoyed the young boys company, and the same could be said for Shinji, as he had come out of his shell a lot more lately, and although Asuka was unaware of exactly what had caused it, Shinji had gotten a lot more courage since the Third Impact, and this was another thing that intrigued Asuka, admittedly he was still prone to fear, but for example as Asuka sat next to Shinji, before he would have looked frightened and backed away, yet now he looked her in the face and gave her a weak smile, as though he was too busy with something else in his mind to be frightened of the fiery redhead beside him, and this fact worried Asuka, although this was something else she would never admit to, though she had to admit, keeping her secret from becoming completely discovered was getting harder as each day passed, the intense warm feelings of a dependence and a caring for the boy were becoming quite prominent, and were scaring the girl.

Though these thoughts quickly left her head as she heard a small sob from the boy next to her, he was… crying…?

Asuka quickly flew into a rage, all sense of sympathy gone for the boy, and she raised her fist, and was about to let loose on the boy, until he started speaking…

A/N:

sorry i havent been updating my stories in the past 2 months, i havent had many ideas at all :S

as for the cliffy, felt i should see if anyone was interested enough to complain about it ;P

please R & R and for the love of Kami give me some ideas xD


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